Crutches

[Livvygurl]

Hi All,

I am ready to tackle an old crutch that I have been relying on for a while. I have my laptop on a stand and type on the keyboard with my elbows resting on the desk. The reason I have been doing this is so I do not have to look down because the base of my neck and upper spine area feel really stiff and sore. I have been doing this for a long time and am ready to try some new alternatives I am thinking that this conditioned behavior is reinforcing my pain. So I need a graceful exit strategy from this scenario. Are there any gentle ways that I can wean myself from this habit?

Best,

Livvygurl

 

[veronica73]

I don't think you need to wean yourself off--you can just stop. It might feel strange at first but just remind yourself that the desk setup hasn't been doing anything for you and that you have TMS.

I remember being scared to give up my PT exercises which I had spend 20 - 30 minutes per day on for years. I decided to just stop cold turkey and I didn't have any increase in pain from it--in fact it was pretty much the opposite, the pain is almost entirely gone.

Good luck!

 

[Beach-Girl]

Hi Livvy:

I agree with Veronica! I had the fear of walking without pain medication for years. I finally took that walk and was pleasantly surprised. When I felt a dull ache in my back I didn't panic. I kept reminding myself it was TMS. It worked.

Maybe try a short time at first, only 10 minutes or so. The beauty is you've come so far, I know you can do this. And the benefit will be a huge bolster to your confidence! Just give it a try. I know you can do it.

And THEN you'll have this memory of success that will carry you through harder challenges. All it takes is once. Try it once. And with all you've learned - you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Let us know how it goes.

BG

 

[Lori]

Hi; how about simply telling yourself "i'm trying something new and I will be fine" and find that new position that works. It will work if you believe it will! Remember, Dr. Sarno (and many other professionals!) says our bodies are very strong.

 

[Forest]

I remember going through this same thing. I had more computer aids than I knew what to do with. We are told by so many people that we have to have perfect posture and use these aids so we don’t hurt ourselves, but guess what...These aids are what hurt us. This i can't do that language is one of the reasons we develop pain in the first place. I used every “good posture” computer aid on the market and my symptoms only got worse. The pain was so bad in my wrists that I started using Voice Recognition Software. The next thing I knew my voice gave out. Of course, this is how TMS works. The reason is because these devices convince us that we are weak and damaged.

Sarno tells us to throw away these aids because they only keep us thinking structurally and create fear and doubt. The sooner we stop using them, the sooner we can begin to be pain free.

When I first stopped using my aids, I will admit that I was a little scared. The key, though, is to not focus on what is it going to be like to not use them, or worry about getting hurt. If you accept the diagnosis this shouldn't be an issue. Focus on anything else such as what you are typing, what happened earlier in the day, or even hum a song. You could even post Sarno’s Daily Reminders to the side of your computer screen to have them right there. These aids fail because they keep us focusing about our symptoms. If you stop focusing on our symptoms and remove fear, then the pain will begin to fade away.

It comes down to removing doubt and fear that you can’t do something. Remind yourself that your neck and spine are strong and you can do it.

Stopping cold turkey is probably the best way to do it. It is sort of like shock therapy to our unconscious where you tell it that enough is enough and it’s old tricks are not going to work any more.

Change your thoughts, Change your life

Forest

 

[Susan]

I remember going through this same thing. I had more computer aids than I knew what to do with. We are told by so many people that we have to have perfect posture and use these aids so we don’t hurt ourselves, but guess what...These aids are what hurt us. This i can't do that language is one of the reasons we develop pain in the first place. I used every “good posture” computer aid on the market and my symptoms only got worse. The pain was so bad in my wrists that I started using Voice Recognition Software. The next thing I knew my voice gave out. Of course, this is how TMS works. The reason is because these devices convince us that we are weak and damaged.

Agree with Forest and Veronica. Before you go cold turkey you could tell your brain that the game is up. There is nothing physically wrong with your body OR just get rid of the props and when the doubt and/or fear try to intrude, ignore, turn up the volume on your favorite song and sing along......anything to distract you.

I gave up sleeping with a pillow under my knees and carrying a blowup cushion when I went out to eat or someplace with what I thought were seats that would be bad for my back. I did this as soon as I read Sarno's book. These props proved to be of No help to me and I have not missed them at all. Easy in just reaffirms there is something wrong with you where ever the TMS manifests.

Susan

Sarno tells us to throw away these aids because they only keep us thinking structurally and create fear and doubt. The sooner we stop using them, the sooner we can begin to be pain free.

When I first stopped using my aids, I will admit that I was a little scared. The key, though, is to not focus on what is it going to be like to not use them, or worry about getting hurt. If you accept the diagnosis this shouldn't be an issue. Focus on anything else such as what you are typing, what happened earlier in the day, or even hum a song. You could even post Sarno’s Daily Reminders to the side of your computer screen to have them right there. These aids fail because they keep us focusing about our symptoms. If you stop focusing on our symptoms and remove fear, then the pain will begin to fade away.

It comes down to removing doubt and fear that you can’t do something. Remind yourself that your neck and spine are strong and you can do it.

Stopping cold turkey is probably the best way to do it. It is sort of like shock therapy to our unconscious where you tell it that enough is enough and it’s old tricks are not going to work any more.

Change your thoughts, Change your life

Forest

 

[Livvygurl]

I took the stand out from under my laptop and I am typing and using the computer as if everything is okay, because it is. MY BODY IS STRONG! I must say I feel like some kind of wooden doll but I am okay just experiencing the newness. Some slouching is involved but that is natural and leaning side to side is perfectly acceptable too. People do not have to have excellent drill Sargent posture like I have had for over a decade, in order to have a healthy back. Now I am really convinced that the mind controls the body! I actually let a friend hug me the other day. Next shall I try the REI climbing wall? Where does the limit end – the sky’s the limit, right? I started to wonder how human beings are conditioned in so many millions of ways. It can be quite a mind boggling thought when you really start to think about it. With all your support I am able to challenge myself, change, and grow! THANK YOU!!! ♡♡♡

 

[veronica73]

Yay, Livvy!!!!!

 

[Susan]

I took the stand out from under my laptop and I am typing and using the computer as if everything is okay, because it is. MY BODY IS STRONG! I must say I feel like some kind of wooden doll but I am okay just experiencing the newness. Some slouching is involved but that is natural and leaning side to side is perfectly acceptable too. People do not have to have excellent drill Sargent posture like I have had for over a decade, in order to have a healthy back. Now I am really convinced that the mind controls the body! I actually let a friend hug me the other day. Next shall I try the REI climbing wall? Where does the limit end – the sky’s the limit, right? I started to wonder how human beings are conditioned in so many millions of ways. It can be quite a mind boggling thought when you really start to think about it. With all your support I am able to challenge myself, change, and grow! THANK YOU!!! ♡♡♡

Way to go! You are an inspiration to us all.

Susan

 

[BruceMC]

Giving up all the physical aids associated with computer use seems like an important part of healing (like stopping going to PT and doing stretches for 'your back'). But this is a question I've begun asking myself: Is cyber space by its very nature somehow a stressor associated with the production of anxiety? Being bombarded with so much information from so many desperate sources simultaneously seems to be a formula for producing a private consciousness filled with anxiety and stress. Of course, I worked on PCs for years as a technical writer, but never had an TMS symptoms, at least not ones I could remember so they must not have been so bad. Today, though, I wake up, tap my iPhone and am bombarded by emails trying to grab my attention and various stories about all kinds of mayhem including drive-by shootings, child molesting, murder and rape. I wonder if all that bad news concentrated on the screen at the same time contributes to underlying anxiety issues already present in my psyche and intensifies them?

 

[veronica73]

Is cyber space by its very nature somehow a stressor associated with the production of anxiety.

I think so. It is so easy to access information about everything horrible going on in the world. While it's good to have some awareness of the news (I guess), I find I can only spend so much time reading it because most of it is so negative. I even hide from my Facebook feed friends who are constantly complaining about everything. I wouldn't choose to hear these people complain 5 times a day in real life, so I don't really want to hear it online either.
Email can be stressful too because it's relentless.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

This does worry me. I saw a Newsweek cover at a friend's house yesterday, which asked the question: is all of this texting, tweeting, posting and emailing making us crazy? I suspect the answer is yes...

 

[BruceMC]

Well, in the 19th century people were worrying whether railroad travel at rapid rates of speed was going to make people go crazy too. A couple months back in the Atlantic magazine there was a feature article on whether increasing Facebook use was making us all "lonely" by leading us into a narcissistic, socially isolated cul de sac. Well, as Dr. Sarno implies in HBP, modern Western capitalist civilization with its emphasis on the rugged individual who does everything by and for himself is already deeply narcissistic and socially isolated. I would suggest myself that all "this texting, tweeting, posting and emailing" are just intensifying states of consciousness that are already deeply ingrained in our culture. One thing that makes me mad ('enrages' me) though is the way the New Age internet 'kids' at my gym are so self-absorbed in their smart phone apps that they always (I repeat 'always') forget to put the weights back in their proper places. For someone with a TMS perfectionist personality type these habits only contribute to my psychological and physical woes. As part of my 'cure', I suppose I'll have to learn to get used to it! In the meanwhile, I'll just have to keep wandering around the weight room putting their misplaced weight plates back into their 'proper' places on the racks . . . But are there really any 'proper' places for them, except in my obsessive-compulsive head?